Maryland Racing

The new Maryland Jockey Club (TMJC) has hired veteran John Banno as Director of Racing Surfaces, the organization said in a press release on Friday morning. Previously the superintendent at Thistledown, Banno brings over 30 years of industry experience to the role. He will oversee the TMJC track team as they maintain the dirt surfaces at Laurel Park, Pimlico Race Course, and the brand-new training center at Shamrock Farm. "John is the perfect fit for the Maryland Jockey Club," said President and General Manager Bill Knauf. "He has a proven...

Robert Croteau has been named as the next general manager of Fair Hill Training Center (FHTC) in Maryland, it was announced via press release Monday morning. Tapped to succeed Sally Goswell, who retired after almost 30 years in the position, Croteau began his position effective Feb. 1 while Goswell stays on as a consultant to ease the transition. "I always thought Fair Hill Training Center was a great concept and to actually be involved with something like that is exciting," said Croteau, himself the son of a Thoroughbred trainer, and...

Pegasus Day at Gulfstream is one of my most enjoyable days at the races. The melding of great entertainment, world-class horses, and a great vibe shows racing at its best. It is expensive to put on and showcases our sport in the highest light. It is also the most ironic considering the recent announcement regarding the closing of Gulfstream and seeking development absent horse racing. I was perplexed to listen to Belinda Stronach on Pegasus Day speak of the non-compatibility of racing in an urban environment, despite all of the...

The Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority (MTROA) has approved the state's Thoroughbred racing calendar for 2025, which includes six days during the week of the 150th running of GI Preakness Stakes before the site is redeveloped, the authority said via a press release on Friday. The first under new leadership and a refitted organizational structure, the MTROA's calendar includes 114 racing days at Laurel Park. Preakness week will constitute the final running at Pimlico prior to a forward-looking rebuild and redevelopment of the Park Heights property, which is intended to...

The Maryland Racing Commission has approved a 2025 racing schedule that calls for Laurel and Pimlico to race just 120 days in 2025. The dates were approved at an Oct. 28 racing commission meeting. The story was first reported by the website the racingbiz.com. The number of racing dates has fluctuated in recent years, but the new schedule will mark a new era for Maryland racing. As recently as 2019 there were 174 racing dates. The dates will be divided between the state's two tracks with 114 dates at Laurel,...

Given by the Maryland Million Ltd. Board of Directors, nominations for the 2024 Joe Kelly Unsung Hero Award are due by Oct. 1, the organization said in a Thursday release. Potential nominees should embody characteristics that are valuable, but often go unrewarded. Nominees that are not selected for the award on Maryland Millions Day will be considered in the future without further need for submission. Publicist Joe Kelly was involved from the introduction of the concept in 1985 until his death in 2012. Recent recipients include: Brenda Herzog, Fran Burns...

Change is on the horizon for Maryland racing with legislation passed earlier this year that allowed 1/ST Racing to turn both Pimlico and Laurel over to the state of Maryland. Once that bill was signed, the Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority (MTROA) was born. Soon after, Corey Johnsen, a former racetrack executive for Lone Star Park and Kentucky Downs, came on as the MTROA's interim CEO. He joined this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland, to discuss the future of racing in Maryland. Johnsen, who was this week's...

Change is on the horizon for Maryland racing with legislation passed earlier this year that allowed 1/ST Racing to turn both Pimlico and Laurel over to the state of Maryland. Corey Johnsen the interim CEO of the newly formed Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority (MTROA), joined this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast to discuss the future of racing in Maryland.

A group ranging from high school juniors to college graduates make up the participants for the seventh edition of the Maryland Thoroughbred Career program, the Maryland Horse Foundation announced Tuesday. This year's participants are: Kate Benjamin (Westminster, MD); Daria Bogdanov (Baltimore, MD); Emily Cross (Westminster, MD); Keely Flynn (Harwood, MD); and Claire Superczynski (Sykesville, MD). "Every year, with the Maryland Thoroughbred Career Program, we look forward to introducing our industry to a new group of young people", says Cricket Goodall, executive director of the Maryland Horse Foundation. "We always learn...

While all eyes turn to Maryland this weekend for Saturday's 149th running of the GI Preakness S. at Pimlico Race Course, Virginia-based owner/breeder Larry Johnson has his sights set strictly on the GII George E. Mitchell Black-Eyed Susan S., Friday's featured race, where his filly Call Another Play (Audible) is the lone Maryland-bred entered in the eight-horse field. The 3-year-old filly is a fourth-generation homebred for Johnson, who owns Legacy Farm in Bluemont, Va., but is a decades-long supporter of the Maryland breeding program. "I've gone to Preakness weekend for...

A bill to radically reform Maryland's racing industry has passed both chambers of the state legislature, with the House voting 105-32 Monday night to approve a project that will see among other things ownership of Pimlico Race Course transferred from 1/ST Racing and Gaming to the state and the establishment of a year-round training facility for Maryland's horsemen and women. After the Maryland House of Delegates initially passed the legislation unanimously, the bill was subsequently amended by the Senate. This amended bill was then sent back to the House for...

According to an article written by Pamela Wood of The Balitmore Banner on Wednesday, Apr. 3, Churchill Downs Inc. has made an "overture" to buy Pimlico, the Home of the Preakness Stakes. The report says the information comes from two unnamed sources in the Maryland state capital familiar with the negotiations. Wood writes that one of the sources said Churchill has been lobbying to derail a bill in the state legislature that's necessary for the state ownership deal to go through. The article says that representatives of Churchill Downs did...